Zeng Nianzhen thought that he was a private minister of the East Palace. Although this order was against the laws of the court, he still replied without hesitation: "I am willing!"
Then he said: "It should have been like this a long time ago."
"You have people in Jianghu. You should be able to recruit five hundred people. But what I want is not just assassins, but also an army." Su Ziji looked solemn: "At the critical moment, if you can pull him in, you will fight for your life."
Li Shimin was suppressed by the prince in the political struggle and was at the end of his rope. He launched the Xuanwumen Revolution and finally mobilized 100 warriors to fight. After hearing the news, another 600 people were willing to follow, and they made a comeback. At that time, the prince had 2,030 soldiers from Changlin.
It can be seen that having an elite army at a critical moment, even if there are only a few hundred, is completely different.
Even if he is extremely cunning and cunning, he must have an army of his own, otherwise, it will be the old way of the prince - not even a single soldier or general can be mobilized at the critical moment.
"In the whole world, is it the land of the king? Is it the land of the king? Is it the king's ministers who want to train five hundred elite soldiers in the country without being discovered? That is what a fool can do."
"When you go overseas, that is the blank area of the imperial court."
After talking, he arrived at the village. Because the matter was important, he kept silent.
The Sun family is at the head of the village. You can see a house without asking. Although it is not an adobe house, it looks like it has a brick structure, but it is obviously old. The yard is surrounded by a fence and the wall door is a wooden door. It looks upside down. The tidying up was quite neat. When people arrived, they attracted the attention of the old woman who was cleaning the courtyard.
She hurriedly came over and asked through the fence, "Are you looking for someone?"
Before Su Ziji could answer, the door opened, and an old man wearing a half-worn cotton robe, who looked old but still had the air of a soldier, hurried out and saw Zeng Nianzhen and Cen Rubai clearly outside the fence. He was shocked and stared at Su Ziji.
The more he looked at it, the more he felt it was similar to the prince, so he raised his hand and asked, "Is this the Daihou who is here?"
"It's me." Su Ziji replied.
The next moment, the old man's face suddenly turned red, he straightened his clothes, fell to his knees with a thud, and shouted loudly: "Sun Ping, the commander of Chendong Palace, has met the young master!"
As he said this, he kowtowed repeatedly, and the snow suddenly became concave.
"Master Sun, please get up quickly." Su Ziji hurriedly reached out to help him.
Sun Ping smiled bitterly: "Young Master, I am not an adult, and I dare not call myself an adult in front of His Highness."
"The past doesn't count, but from today on, it doesn't count."
Looking behind Sun Ping, there were several people standing in the distance who did not dare to come forward, including the elderly, women, and children. Although this family was not considered prosperous, it could still be considered to have descendants.
It's just that although they don't wear tops or cover their bodies, they actually have some dishes, and their clothes are also patched, so they know that life is difficult.
Seeing Sun Ping shed tears, Su Ziji looked at the people behind him and said with emotion, "Thank you for your hard work these years. Mr. Sun, I have just been granted the title of Marquis, and there is still one official position left in the mansion." , I wonder if you are willing to come out again and escort me?"
"Of course I, my lord, am willing!"
I wanted to say something, but looking at the sincere eyes of the young man in front of me, the words I wanted to say turned into trembling. After so many years, I finally waited for it.
Su Ziji said again: "Come, let's go in and talk."
Sun Ping looked around and saw some movement from his neighbors, then he suddenly realized and immediately let Su Ziji into the house.
Everyone entered the house.
The courtyard can still be seen to be tidy, but although the house is also clean, it is very small in area. There are green cloth curtains separating each other. There are tables and chairs in the main room by the window, but there are paper, scissors, and paste on them, and underneath they are leaning against each other. A bundle of shaved bamboo strips and an unfinished kite made the room seem cramped when several people entered.
"This is a kite built by my mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Let me sell it for a few bucks." Sun Ping was a little embarrassed and explained at the side: "Actually, Mr. Zeng and Mr. Cen have been helping us all these years, but I was sick a few years ago. , I spent money on medicine, and now I look a little depressed."
Su Ziji sighed: "Master Sun, you don't need to explain. I feel really bad for letting you suffer like this all these years. I wonder if Master Sun can still contact his colleagues back then? I plan to ask them to come out and help me."
The new captain's face darkened, and he sighed: "It's not that I didn't want to, it's just that most of the people involved back then were old and sick, and they were afraid that they wouldn't be able to use them any more, so we contacted them again and got in touch. I may not be able to help you, young master, but even I feel guilty for taking on the position of captain."
This is the old minister of the East Palace.
Su Ziji listened to this and sighed in his heart. The prince had been dead for more than ten years, but after the purge, most of the remaining old people from the East Palace still cared about the old master. They had suffered so much in these years, not only Instead of complaining, I feel guilty that I am old and sick and can no longer help the young master. It is a pity not to use such a person.
"Master Sun, what you said is wrong. You are all my father's old ministers, how can you say whether it is useful or not? Just the word "loyalty" is enough."
Su Ziji's words were truly from the bottom of his heart, and he spoke them with great sincerity.
Sun Ping could tell. Although he was extremely excited when he saw the emperor's grandson, he could still hold it back. But at this moment, the mixture of joy, sadness, nostalgia, guilt and grievance suddenly came to his mind. My heart turned into sobs.
The emperor and his grandson are just like princes. Their pain and perseverance over the years, and their loyalty have indeed been repaid to others!
Tears flowed down, this time uncontrollable. He cried and knelt down again, but turned to the sky and said: "Your Highness, your son has grown up, and your spirit in heaven can rest in peace!"
Then he called his two sons, the eldest was over 20 years old, and the younger was almost 20 years old. They both looked young and strong, and they quickly ordered: "Come, kowtow to the emperor's grandson!"
The two young men immediately kowtowed to Su Ziji without saying anything.
Su Ziji stood up and talked with them for a while.
What made Su Ziji a little disappointed was that these two people were obviously straight-laced, probably because their families had experienced changes when they were growing up, and they had become poor since then. They didn't look like they had read books, and their speech and behavior were very ordinary, probably at most. In the future, he will be an ordinary guard and will not have the talent to lead an army.
But then Su Ziji thought again, the talent to lead an army is at least once in a hundred miles, and once in a thousand miles, how can it be so easy to meet?
It would be good to have someone you can trust as a soldier or bodyguard in the future.
"Sun Ping, you enter the mansion now. Although Daihou Mansion is not as good as the East Palace, everything must have a beginning. When you enter the mansion, you must first build up the structure of the palace soldiers."
"As for the moving expenses, I will pay thirty taels in advance on behalf of the Marquis Mansion when it is first built."
Sun Ping wiped his tears and responded quickly: "Don't worry, Lord. I dare not say anything else. Training the soldiers is my own skill. Give me three months and I will be able to show it to the Lord."
Because he had other things to do, Su Ziji didn't stay at Sun Ping's house for long and left quickly. The twenty-two families did not go. After all, although he should be polite to the virtuous and corporal, it would not be good if he treated them all equally.
After getting on the bullock cart and listening to the sound of the wheels, Su Ziji said to Cen Rubai: "There are twenty-two households left. From now on, each household will be given ten taels, and please go to the house to raise them."
"For the affairs of the government soldiers, we use veterans."
